The Eastern Sky
by Little Miss Goblin
Summary: Everyone deserves a chance to fly, but what happens to the people that they leave behind? What if, instead of just being ashamed of her sister's actions, someone had convinced Nessarose to support her? Currently planned for eventual Fiyeraba and Glessa.
1. Tears

**Chapter One: Tears**

The train station was bustling with activity, throngs of people rushing to and fro as they both boarded trains headed for distant lands and disembarked in order to enact whatever purpose they had come to Shiz for. The slightly rusted yet still reliable train bound for the Emerald City was due to leave from Platform 3 in just a few minutes time, and as such was already beginning to spit the first few clouds of smoke out across the waiting crowds.

"Hurry Boq," murmured Nessarose Thropp anxiously as she saw this, recognising the signs of a train that was about to depart, "we're going to miss her!" The object of her affections didn't reply to this instruction, however it almost felt like her started wheeling her chair along at an even slower pace than before, as if to purposefully rebel against her. But that was nonsense of course, thought Nessa to herself quickly in an attempt to quell this suspicion, he must simply have not heard her over the noise of the crowd. This logical suggestion did little to sooth her suspicions however, for she wasn't at all sure that she believed it. Oh her heart wanted to, the pang she was feeling there right now made that perfectly clear, however her head simply refused to abandon the idea that Boq had purposefully contradicted her. Fortunately she was not given the chance to dwell on this matter, for at that moment the crowd of people before them moved aside and revealed the familiar forms of Galinda Upland and Elphaba Thropp, who was the reason she'd come to the station in the first place.

"Elphaba, I'm so proud of you," stated Nessa as she drew closer, never having been one to delay what she wanted to say by engaging in needless small talk, "and I know father would be too. We're all proud, aren't we?" She looked up at Boq with a smile as she said this, expecting him to express his agreement with her words. To her surprise however he appeared stony-faced and emotionless, almost as if he were purposefully masking what he actually felt. The pang of pain in her heart returned with a vengeance, and the sight once again left her pondering what her boyfriend was actually thinking and feeling.

"You'll be alright, won't you?" asked Elphaba with concern in her voice, letting Nessa's compliment go unheeded as she had half-suspected that she would. That was just like Elphaba, thought Nessa to herself with a hint of amusement, she was finally getting her dream yet was still more concerned with making sure the people around her were okay. Smiling up at her sister, she was about to reassure her that everything would be fine when Galinda leapt in to the conversation and did it for her.

"She'll be fine!" insisted Galinda chirpily, clearly eager to see her best friend (it still shocked Nessa how quickly the two of them had gone from hated rivals to the best of friends) heading off to the wonders that surely awaited her with the Wizard, "Biq will take care of her right?"

"It's Boq!" exclaimed the put-upon Munchkin angrily, the unexpected ferocity behind these simple words making Nessa jump in fright. Looking up in alarm, she was shocked to see him shaking with emotion, his previous stony facade having shattered before an onslaught of repressed emotions, "I... I can't do this anymore!" He turned sharply on the spot, storming away through the crowd without another word.

"Boq!" wailed Nessa as she quickly wheeled her chair around to face the direction he'd gone in and watched as he vanished into the crowd.

"Nessa," began Galinda carefully, the cautious nature with which she seemed to choose her words indicating that she felt remorse for having pushed Boq over the edge like that, "maybe he's just not the right one... for you." Her words rang true in Nessa's head, however at this moment in time the pain in her heart had overwhelmed her, and was blocking out anything reasonable that her own head might attempt to say.

"No," replied Nessa as tears began to well up in her eyes, "it's me that's not right. Elphaba, just go. I'll be fine." She didn't sound particularly convincing as she said this, however she wheeled herself away before anyone could try to stop her, ignoring her sister's cry for her to wait as she made a bee-line for the station's exit. Keeping her head down on the street to make sure that she didn't catch sight of Boq in the distance (she wasn't sure she would have been able to stop herself from chasing after him if she had seen him), Nessa made her way back to her room without stopping, her vision becoming more and more blurred by the cascade of tears that was rolling down her face. Manoeuvring herself over to the bed, she clambered into it and pulled the covers over her, allowing all of her tears and grief to pour freely into the soft fabric of her pillow.

She wasn't sure of exactly how long she stayed in this mournful stupor for, however by the time she finally glanced up at the clock again it was far later than she had been expecting it to be. Sniffing, she pulled herself upright and reached for a handkerchief, quickly using it to dry her eyes as, at long last, her head began to speak up again. In all honesty, she should have seen this coming; after all, it wasn't like she hadn't had her suspicions about Boq's reasons for asking her out in the first place. She'd just been so euphoric to believe that someone could see her as beautiful without feeling the need to add 'tragically' beforehand that she'd been willing to ignore these suspicions, and instead cling to the warmth he brought to her heart as tightly as she possibly could.

"Oz, I was such a fool," murmured Nessa quietly as she dabbed at her eyes, half-heartedly attempting to compose herself enough to go down to the dining hall, "I let what my heart wanted to believe block out what my head was trying to tell me." Any further rumination on this topic she had planned was interrupted as a knock came at the door. With a sniff, Nessa threw the covers over her again, hoping that whoever it was would assume she wasn't in and go away. Unfortunately, whoever it was trying to get her attention was clearly determined, for they knocked again a minute later.

"Who is it?" called out Nessa morosely as, with a sigh, she pulled herself upright once again.

"Fiyero," replied the person outside (presumably Fiyero), "are you alright?" She was momentarily taken aback by this question, rather unsure of why the Winkie prince would be inquiring as to her wellbeing.

"Hold on a minute," requested Nessa as she began to manoeuvre herself back into her wheelchair. Crossing back over to the door, she pulled it open, half-expecting to see someone pulling a prank on her rather than the actual prince. It was indeed Fiyero however, a concerned expression showing on his face that was quite at odds with the shallow persona he had shown to her in the past. Slightly disorientated by his unexpected appearance, Nessa backed up a little, indicating that he was free to enter the room if he wished.

"I heard about what B... what happened," explained Fiyero as he entered the room and sat in a chair that was gestured to by Nessa, quickly stopping himself from directly saying Boq's name in case doing so would only upset the girl (who had clearly spent a considerable time crying) even further, "I just wanted to make sure that you were alright."

"Why?" asked Nessa, shaking her head slightly in an attempt to dislodge some of the growing confusion. She sniffed again, raising her handkerchief and wiping away a few tears which had welled up in her eyes since she'd last dried them.

"Because you're Elphaba's sister," said Fiyero awkwardly, apparently not particularly impressed by his own reasoning, "and with her and Gal... Glinda gone, I thought there might not be anyone else to check on you."

"Glinda?" repeated Nessa curiously, preferring to focus on this than on her own feelings right now.

"Galinda changed her name."

"Why?"

"I'm not sure."

"Wait," muttered Nessa, the significance of the blonde's name having entered the conversation suddenly striking her, "Glinda went too?"

"I assume so," replied Fiyero, "I mean, they didn't say so while I was there, but no-one I've spoken to has seen her since."

"Oh," said Nessa, staring sullenly at the wall as she spoke, "she could have asked me along. I could have used something to take my mind off things."

"I'm sure she was planning to go alone," reassured Fiyero quickly, not wanting to inadvertently drive a further wedge between the siblings, "If you'd been there instead of Glinda she'd probably have invited you instead." Nessarose had no response to this, other than to suddenly regret her decision to ignore her sister's request for her to wait as she'd fled back to her room. Could she really have been on her way to the Emerald City at this exact moment if she'd waited just a moment longer? She sighed, swiftly deciding that there was no point in dwelling on what could have been as she turned her attention back to the person before her.

"I'm sure you're right," muttered Nessa quietly. The conversation trailed off into a rather awkward silence, the two people who only really knew each other through a common acquaintance unsure of what exactly to say to one another. Still, she was glad of the company, for it was at least taking her mind off the empty void that seemed to have formed in her chest whilst she was crying, as if her heart had seeped out onto the pillow along with the tears. It was Fiyero who eventually broke the silence, getting to his feet as he spoke.

"Well, I'm glad to see you're alright," he said vaguely, slowly beginning to head for the door. This unspoken dismissal was the last thing that Nessa's already damaged composure could take, and within seconds she had broken down into tears again. Fiyero stared in shock at this sudden outburst, completely unsure how to react.

"Oh Oz, I'm not _alright_," gasped Nessa between sobs, "I loved him, Fiyero!"

"No you didn't," stated Fiyero surprisingly firmly, although it was clear from his expression that the proclamation had surprised him just as much as her. Nessa broke off mid-sob, gazing up at him with a combination of confusion and venom.

"What do you know!" spat Nessa, offended at the very notion that someone else could know what she was thinking better than she did, "you don't know anything about me!"

"I know what I've seen," replied Fiyero, "and believe me, I've gotten quite good at watching people. For some reason people tend to let their guards down around me."

"Is there a point to this?"

"Sheesh, I'm getting there," continued Fiyero, relieved that she'd stopped crying, even if he'd only managed to make her do so by making her angry (he'd always found irritated people a lot easier to deal with than depressed ones), "what I mean is, well... what did you like about him other than the fact that he liked you?" Nessarose was taken aback, the retort she had been planning to hurl at him dying in her throat. What _had_ she liked about Boq?

"I... I don't..." Tears began to well up in her eyes again, however this time she recognised them as coming from her confusion rather than from the loss of her boyfriend.

"I think you were more in love with the idea of being in love than with Boq himself," stated Fiyero, kneeling beside her and placing one comforting hand on her arm, "and trust me, when you're so desperate to cling to something that's not right for you, it can only end badly." Nessa considered this for a moment, feeling the tears roll down her cheek however unable to muster the willpower to wipe them away this time. Her entire relationship with the young Munchkin was playing out in her head, and admittedly she didn't like what she was seeing.

"You... you might be right," she admitted quietly, sniffing as she looked across at the prince.

"I'm always right," replied Fiyero with a slight grin, leaping to his feet as he did so, "Now then, Miss. Nessarose, I'm going to provide something to take your mind off things, as you wanted. How'd you like to come to dinner?"

"Pardon?" exclaimed Nessa, more to give herself time to think than because she hadn't heard him clearly.

"Just as friends of course," he clarified hastily, "I already have feelings for another; I just don't think you look like someone who should be alone at the moment." After a moment of silent deliberation, Nessa smiled up at him, wiping her eyes as she did so.

"Thank you. I'd like that," she said, before quickly adding, "you know, you're nowhere near as shallow as you appear."

"Tell no-one."

_**This is my first time writing a Wicked fanfic; I hope you like it! Thank you for reading; reviews would be appreciated!**_


	2. Laughter

**Chapter Two: Laughter**

"You must understand," began the Wizard, the serious tone he was trying to affect contrasting sharply with his flustered expression, "not a word of what happened here can get out."

"Not. One. Word," emphasised Madame Morrible severely, glowering at Glinda so darkly that Miss. Upland rather wished she could melt away on the spot and thus escape from the glare. Just under an hour had passed since Elphaba Thropp, newly dubbed as the 'Wicked Witch', had taken off from the top of the Wizard's palace to parts unknown. Glinda had been marched back down to the throne room under armed guard, at which point the terrible twosome waiting there had laid out a deal for her. Upon completion of her time at Shiz she would be officially presented to the public as 'Glinda the good', so long as she remained silent about the events that she'd witnessed. Oh sure she'd essentially be a puppet for the Wizard, but at least she'd be... popular...

"Yes, I understand," said Glinda in a tone that conveyed both resignation and dejection. Ever since she'd become friends with Elphaba popularity had seemed far less important to her, and thus it was little consolation in this situation. Her old self would have leapt at this chance for all she was worth, however now she was already beginning to regret refusing Elphaba's offer. But what else could she do? If she refused the Wizard's offer the only thing she'd accomplish would be landing herself in Southstairs, or worse.

"See that you remember it," instructed Morrible imperiously, "and you'll find that the Wizard can be very rewarding." Glinda sighed softly; looking down at the floor so as not to meet the eyes of either of the room's other occupants. She was going to have to grin and bear it, that much was clear. Besides, maybe it wouldn't be so bad once she got used to it.

"Can I go back to Shiz now?" asked Glinda in the same dejected tone, "even if I can't tell her the truth, I think it would be better for Elphaba's sister to hear the news from me first." She had absolutely no idea how she could do so without breaking her impromptu pact with the Wizard, however she knew that she couldn't let Nessarose think that her sister really had gone wicked. It was only a small thing, but she felt she owed something to Elphaba after refusing to go with her, and this seemed as good a service as any.

"Of course," replied the Wizard, who now appeared noticeably calmer having convinced himself that the girl really was on his side now, "I'll call for you when the time comes." Glinda nodded silently, and turned to leave without another word. She didn't care if this would seem rude; there was nothing that she could think of to say that would have been appropriate

_When the time comes, _thought Glinda to herself glumly as she made her way back out onto the streets of the Emerald City, _funny how he makes it sound like an execution._

_

* * *

The_ _China Rose_ was undoubtedly the most ornate and expensive restaurant that operated in the town of within the upper suburbs, nestled in amongst the most sought after property in the area, it had such a well-established reputation for being overpriced that most people passing by didn't dare glance at the menu for fear of seeing some item of food that they wanted, yet were quite unable to afford. Not that they ever listed the prices on the menu; the policy at _the China Rose_ was that if you had to ask for the price of a dish before ordering it, then you weren't the sort of clientele they wanted anyway and would be promptly banned for life. It was therefore with some degree of trepidation that Nessarose realised what bistro Fiyero was escorting her towards, for it was not an establishment that was typically frequented for a casual night out.

"_The China Rose_?" asked Nessa curiously as the restaurant in question swam into view at the end of the street, "you did say this was just as friends right?" Fiyero laughed at this, suddenly stopping his pushing of her chair and stepping around in front so that he could face her.

"Are you saying you'd prefer otherwise?" he asked in a tone that made his amusement obvious, "I wouldn't blame you. Half the girls at Shiz certainly would."

"Of course not!" spluttered Nessarose hastily, waving her arms rapidly in an attempt to add credence to her denial, "I just meant... well, _the China Rose_ isn't really the usual choice for just friends." Laughing again, Fiyero resumed pushing her chair towards the restaurant, from which a selection of wondrous aromas no doubt originating from a selection of the most delectable foods around were now wafting over them.

"What can I say?" he asked, still chuckling, "when you're a prince you don't really worry about the cost of things."

"It's too late Fiyero, you're not going to convince me that you're shallow again," stated Nessa, rolling her eyes as she did so.

"That's a shame," replied the prince, "it comes so naturally to me." Nessa didn't get a chance to fire a retort back at him, for at that moment they reached the elegant, stained-glass door to the restaurant and Fiyero pushed her inside without further ado. Although she hadn't told anyone else, she had attempted to hint to Boq that she wanted to come here several times to no avail back when they were a couple, and as such she couldn't help but gape as she gazed at the bistro's unrestrained grandeur for the very first time. It seemed like every possible expense that could have been taken when constructing the place had been, from the marble tops on every table to the ornate, golden fountain that served as a centrepiece for the entire dining area.

"How does a place like this stay in business?" gasped Nessa in a state of some shock, rather dazzled by the extravagance that surrounded her.

"Purely because of their reputation," replied Fiyero, who was clearly apathetic about the finery around them, "vain, wealthy people come from far and wide to dine here, purely to prove to the rest of their clique that they can afford it."

"People like you?"

"Now you're learning." This time Nessa joined him in his laugh, however they quickly stifled it as the maître d' approached them, a look of friendly recognition appearing in his eyes as he spotted Fiyero. Greeting him as if they were old friends (although Nessa rather suspected that this man treated all of his wealthy clientele in the same manner), the maître d' quickly led them through the throng of tables to one of the more private booths set into the far wall, which Nessa gathered from the short conversation was a special table kept on reserve for the prince.

"Isn't it terribly expensive to keep a table on standby?" she asked curiously as the maître d' bustled away again.

"Not really," replied Fiyero in an offhand manner, "look around you, how many tables do you see?"

"About a hundred."

"Exactly. The food here is so expensive that I don't think half of them have ever even been sat at." Nessa laughed again at this, although was beginning to feel rather strange for doing so. Only a few hours ago the person whom she'd believed that she was in love with had left her; shouldn't she still be more upset than this? She freely admitted to herself that she probably should feel worse than she did, especially considering all of the tears that she'd shed, however Fiyero's words had (at least temporarily) patched over the gap that Boq had left within her.

"What did I like about him?" murmured Nessa under her breath, screwing up her forehead in concentration as she tried to think of something. Surely it couldn't just have been because she'd thought he liked her. She wasn't that shallow, was she?

"Ah ah ah," interjected Fiyero, making her jump slightly as her concentration broke (she hadn't intended him to hear her whispered question), "you're here to take your mind off that, remember?" Still grinning, he slid a menu across the table towards her, however she didn't move to open it, instead simply gazing curiously at the prince. After a moment or so he noticed the look she was giving him and lowered his own menu, tilting his head slightly in a parallel expression of curiosity: "What?"

"I just don't understand," admitted Nessa, speaking in a rush, "we've barely even spoken before this. Why are you suddenly trying to make sure that I'm alright?" To her surprise, Fiyero seemed to squirm away awkwardly at the question, almost as if he were slightly embarrassed by the answer. He didn't answer immediately, instead apparently becoming very interested in examining his menu, although Nessa could see that his eyes weren't actually moving across the words before him. A rather curious thought suddenly struck her, and she recalled what he had said back at her room about already having feelings for someone else. At the time she'd assumed this was Galinda... or Glinda if that was indeed the case... however now another, altogether unexpected possibility had occurred to her.

"There's no real reaso..." began Fiyero, however Nessa interrupted him before he could finish the excuse:

"You like Elphaba don't you!" Fiyero's head snapped up so quickly that it almost looked as if it would snap clean off, eyes bulging out in shock as he gaped at the girl.

"Of course not!" spluttered Fiyero unconvincingly. He mouthed a few words silently, apparently at a loss for what to say, before eventually slumping back into his seat in a defeated fashion. "How did you know?"

"You said you had feelings for someone," replied Nessa, smugness at her own deduction obvious in her voice, "and it's obvious that it wasn't me. I just realised that you must be looking out for me because you know Elphaba would like that." Smirking, she finally picked up her own menu, flipping it open whilst she let her companion contemplate her words. For a moment or so Fiyero's only response was to sigh and press one finger to his temple as an irritated expression spread across his face, however it wasn't clear whether he was more annoyed at his own transparency or at Nessa's smugness at having seen through it.

"Please don't tell anyone," he finally muttered, shooting an imploring glance across the table.

"You're not ashamed of liking my sister are you?" asked Nessa haughtily, still defensive of her elder sibling in spite of them not always seeing eye to eye.

"Of course not!" insisted Fiyero hastily, his expression convincing her that he was sincere in this sentiment, "it's just... well, Glinda seems to have got it into her mind that we're meant to be or something, and I'd prefer to let her down gently." Nessa laughed softly at this, well aware of Glinda's rather overt affections for the prince (not that there were many people at Shiz who weren't aware of this).

"I seem to be keeping a lot of secrets for you today," she observed, "what makes you think that I can be trusted?"

"It's more a case of not having a choice," admitted Fiyero with a chuckle, "Oz knows, I hope you can." They laughed again, however at that moment a rather pretentious looking waiter approached the table, temporarily preventing any further conversation. The remainder of the meal passed without notable incident, and by the end of the night it was safe to say that the two of them emerged as friends. Wheeling her back to her room, Fiyero said goodnight at the door and departed, leaving Nessarose alone to begin the process of going to bed.

It was just typical that it would be at the exact same moment she'd finished pulling herself into bed that someone would knock at the door. Groaning, Nessa looked over at the clock on the wall, and was irritated to see that it was already well past ten. What sort of ill-considerate person would be calling on her at this hour? She rolled over and pulled the covers over her, hoping that whoever it was would give up and try again tomorrow, however like Fiyero before them whoever was out there seemed to be unshakably determined to speak with her.

"Who's there?" asked Nessa tersely, not even trying to keep the irritation out of her voice.

"Glinda," replied the voice of Glinda, sounding far less confident than Nessa had ever heard the blonde before, "please Nessa, I need to talk to you." With a sigh, Nessa manoeuvred herself back into the wheelchair and quickly crossed back over to the door, pulling it open and looking up at the girl standing there. If she'd thought Glinda's voice sounded less confident than usual, that was nothing compared to how she looked. Never before had she seen the girl before her displaying anything other than total bravado, so it was an incredible shock to see her looking so miserable and nervous.

"Glinda?" began Nessa uncertainly, almost doubting that the girl was in fact Miss. Upland at all, "what's wrong?"

_**Thanks for reading! Reviews would be much appreciated!**_


	3. Tears Again

**Chapter Three: Tears Again**

It seemed like Glinda remained silent for hours, staring unblinking at Nessa as tears began to well up in her usually sparkling eyes, although in reality it couldn't have been for more than a few seconds. There was such gravitas in her silence that Nessa became aware that she was holding her breath, quite unable to move a muscle even to take a breath so long as the blonde's lips remained sealed.

"It's Elphaba," breathed Glinda in a hollow whisper, lapsing into silence again without offering any further explanation. Nessa blinked in surprise, mind rapidly running through several possible things that could have happened to her sister, none of which were good things. What if there'd been an accident on the trains and she'd been seriously hurt, or worse, killed! Admittedly they weren't exactly as close as sisters could be, however this certainly didn't mean that she wished anything but the best for her.

"What about Elphaba?" asked Nessa hurriedly, the words blurring into each other slightly in her haste to get further details, "Is she okay? What's going on Glinda?" The blonde's demeanour was making her far more frantic than she would otherwise have been, for surely it had to be something of dire severity to have so visibly shaken her up. Once again, Glinda didn't respond for a moment or so, instead staring almost blankly at the girl in the chair and beginning to rock back and forth slightly (which did little to relieve Nessa's growing fears).

"Oh Oz, I don't even know where to begin," admitted Glinda, the events of the day playing themselves through again and again inside her head. She'd spent the entire journey back from the Emerald City running through countless imagined conversations with Nessa, desperate to think of the right thing to say, yet now that she was actually standing before her there seemed to be nothing that she could say that would be fitting. She couldn't just tell her everything that had happened (her days would be numbered if word of it ever got out), however neither could she let Nessarose believe that Elphaba really was wicked.

"Come inside," instructed Nessa, more to fill up the silence than anything else, "this doesn't sound like a conversation we should be having out in the open like this." Nodding blankly, Glinda followed the other girl inside, planting herself into the same chair that Fiyero had occupied only a few hours earlier. After almost a minute of staring at each other in silence, Nessa felt the need to speak up again, determined to coax more information out of the blonde: "is it really that bad?"

"Probably worse," murmured Glinda. An involuntary look of fear flashed across Nessa's face, which brought Glinda back to her senses somewhat; after all, she didn't want the girl to get the wrong idea. "She's not hurt," she quickly clarified, shaking her head slightly in an attempt to dislodge some of the haze her own shock was clouding her thoughts with, "at least, not directly."

"Please Glinda," began Nessa imploringly, "just tell me what's happened."

"She had a... disagreement..." whispered Glinda, speaking so softly that Nessa had to strain her ears to hear her, "with the... oh Nessa, it was with the Wizard!"

"With the... with the WIZARD!" exclaimed Nessa in disbelief, convinced that she must have misheard the girl (or perhaps just wishing that she had).

"Yes," confirmed Glinda, the tears that had been lurking at the corners of her eyes since the start of the conversation now beginning to slowly roll down her cheeks.

"She's not... in Southstairs now is she?" asked Nessa anxiously, well aware of that particular prison's sinister reputation in spite of having never been to the Emerald City. Elphaba in Southstairs; the very thought was enough to send chills down her spins. Never mind how terrible the place was supposed to be, she knew that the shame of it alone might just kill their father.

"No, she escaped" murmured Glinda, and Nessa let out a long sigh of relief, "it's just... well, I don't know when, or even if, we'll ever see her again." This revelation was the last thing that Glinda's already fractured composure could handle at this exact moment. Visions of their last moments together at the top of the Wizard's palace rapidly flooded into her conscious mind, and with a heart-breaking sob she broke down into a flood of tears.

Nessarose, who had been momentarily frozen in shock at the blonde's words, was suddenly taken over by instinct and rapidly wheeled her chair across to be with Glinda, taking the other girl's hands in her own in a vain attempt to comfort her. This was an area in which Nessa had never been particularly skilful, she just found it difficult to think of the right thing to say when someone was so obviously upset (and rather doubted that a pensive quote about the nature of the Unnamed God would do the trick in this case). Of course, it didn't help matters that she too was upset by this revelation, however Glinda's grief was so overt that Nessa felt it wouldn't be right to dwell on her own at this point. Besides, she didn't like seeing the blonde upset, not one bit.

"Oh, Glinda," she whispered, wishing glumly that she was able to stand and give the blonde the hug that she so obviously needed, "don't cry. I'm sure everything will..." she trailed away for a moment, unable to complete the phrase _'everything will work out in the end'_ when she didn't believe it herself, "that is... I don't think Elphaba would want you to be this upset." Truthfully, she had no real way of knowing whether this was true either, however it at least sounded less phony than her original thought had.

"Probably not," muttered Glinda between sobs, "it's just so... so unfair!" By this point Nessa was dying to ask exactly what was unfair, and find out exactly what had happened. It wouldn't be right though, not when she was in this state. Pressing her for more information when the very memory of it seemed to be hurting her would simply be cruel. She didn't know why, but it was almost as bad to see Glinda so obviously distraught as it had been to hear the revelation about Elphaba; Nessa didn't just want to comfort the blonde so that she could hear the remainder of the story. She just didn't want Glinda to cry.

"Please..." breathed Nessa, squeezing the blonde's hands tighter, "don't cry..." At that moment a sudden thought struck her: just because she couldn't stand didn't mean she couldn't give Glinda the hug she needed. Acting almost on instinct, Nessa tugged firmly on her arms, pulling Glinda (who wasn't in any state to offer real resistance to it) off the chair and onto her lap, where she was free to cradle her comfortingly. Glinda, vision blurred by her tears, barely noticed the motion, however upon finding a soft and comforting grip encapsulating her snuggled into it gratefully.

Facing in the wrong direction to see the clock, Nessa had no idea how long they stayed like that for, Glinda weeping into her shoulder as she fought to remain composed for the blonde's sake. Quite frankly, she didn't care how long it was. She was just glad that she was able to help, even in this very small way. All of the burning questions that she had ready to ask the girl in her lap (the most obvious one being what the disagreement had been over) seemed somehow less important whilst she was holding Glinda like this. After a good while, Glinda slowly began to compose herself, drawing a handkerchief out from the folds of her outfit and dabbing at her eyes, which seemed to have momentarily exhausted their supply of tears.

"Thank you," said Glinda breathlessly as she slipped off Nessa's lap and back onto the other chair, "you didn't have to do that, but... it helped." Nessa squeezed Glinda's hands again (which she had taken hold of again once she had sat down), looking up at her with a concerned expression.

"Of course I had to," she replied, "I couldn't just let you cry alone." Glinda smiled, however Nessa could easily tell that it was only forced for her sake. They were silent for a moment, at which point Nessa felt she could no longer keep her curiosity pent up within her. "Are you feeling better now? I'd still like to hear exactly what happened... if you're okay."

"I'm not sure I can say..." murmured Glinda, purposefully not meeting the other girl's gaze, "just... don't believe anything you hear."

"What does that even mean!" snapped Nessa, emotion that she'd been suppressing for the blonde's sake bubbling over in a far more explosive manner than she'd intended, "Please Glinda, why can't you just tell me what's going on?" Glinda rocked back and forth in an alarming manner, and for a moment Nessa was sure that she'd pushed her over the edge again and she was about to break down into tears once again. In truth however a fierce battle was raging within Glinda's mind, two conflicting viewpoints fighting for control. It was this conflict that had led to such confusion and, in natural progression, the floods of tears which had burst forth. Glinda truly did want to tell Nessa the truth of everything that had happened; she was simply scared of what would happen if she did.

"Nessa," began Glinda breathlessly, still not meeting the other girl's eyes as she spoke, "I want to tell you... I really do..."

"Then tell me," replied Nessa softly, already feeling remorse for having snapped like that, "you can trust me."

"Can I?"

"Of course."

"Nessa... if I tell you, you must promise not to tell a single soul... especially not your father." This request left Nessarose in silence for a second or so as she thought through the possible ramifications of it, however she was never in any real doubt of what answer she'd give.

"I promise." Taking a deep breath, Glinda finally looked back at Nessa, and the younger girl was shocked to see how utterly terrified she looked. Whatever truth she was about to impart on her was clearly something serious, so Nessa steeled herself for a shock.

"He's nothing but a doddering old humbug."

"Who?" asked Nessa in confusion.

"The Wizard!" exclaimed Glinda, before realising how loudly she'd said this and shrinking down into her seat, speaking in a whisper again when she continued, "The Wizard's a fake!" Her heart was pounding furiously from the fear of what she was doing, and she began to regret her choice the moment the words had left her mouth. It was too late to change her mind now however; she would just have to persevere through whatever arose because of it.

"But that's impossible!" replied Nessa in a tone of clear disbelief, half-beginning to suspect that this was all just some ridiculous, overly-elaborate practical joke, "how could he possibly have taken over Oz if that were true?"

"I don't know," admitted Glinda, not having given much thought to this particular element of the story, "but I swear it's true." Taking another deep breath, she began to tell Nessa the full story of her encounter with the Wizard, starting with her and Elphaba's arrival at the Emerald city and going on all the way to her departure from the Palace (even including her conversation with Elphaba just before her exodus, a detail she hadn't even told the Wizard when pressed to). Nessa listened in stunned silence, barely believing that these were true events being conveyed to her.

"That's... unbelievable..." murmured Nessa as Glinda finished her story, eyes wide as she stared at the blonde.

"You don't believe me!" gasped Glinda, tears forming at the corner of her eyes again as a hurt expression flashed across her face, "how could you accuse me of lying after..."

"No, no, I believe you!" clarified Nessa quickly, squeezing the blonde's hands again in an attempt to calm her down, "it's just not what I expected to hear." Of course, she wasn't really sure what she _had_ been expecting Glinda to tell her, however she certainly wouldn't have guessed the truth, no matter how long she was given to think about it.

"You should try living it," retorted Glinda, although not in an ill-humoured manner this time, "it doesn't make that much more sense to me." She sighed, tugging one of her hands out of Nessa's grip and using it to prop up her forehead with. Why she'd ever thought that she could have this conversation with Nessa without telling her the truth about what had happened she had no idea. What had she been planning to do, tell her that Elphaba was wicked, but that she just shouldn't hold it against her? Her floods of tears had proven that she couldn't keep up that facade for long; and now for better or for worse she was simply going to have to trust Nessa.

"I can see why you made me promise not to tell anyone."

"You won't, will you!" asked Glinda, her head snapping up in alarm.

"Of course not!" reassured Nessa, "In fact, I'm rather touched that you trusted me enough to tell me at all; it's not exactly like we're friends."

"It was the right thing to do," said Glinda, looking away, "I couldn't let you think that the lies Morrible will be spreading about her are true." She bit her lip for a moment, before quickly adding: "and we are friends... at least, I think we are now."

"Of course we are," replied Nessa, smiling encouragingly at her. The blonde smiled back at her, and they remained like that in silence for a moment or so. A weight seemed to lift from Glinda's shoulders as Nessa said this, and for the first time since the conversation had begun she wasn't scared that her secret would be passed on. Did she know for sure that she could trust Nessa? Of course not; but she certainly hoped that she could.

_**Hmm, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but I can't put my finger on what it is. Ah well, I hope you like it! Thanks for reading ^^**_


	4. News

**Chapter Four: News**

For several minutes Glinda was quite unable to bring herself to properly enter her room, only able to stare mournfully into it from the doorframe. Nothing about the chamber had changed since her departure from it that morning, however the knowledge that Elphaba would probably never return to it just made it seem so cold and empty, as if all life had been sucked out of it in the few hours that she'd been gone. Even after she'd finally mustered up the courage to enter, Glinda couldn't help but shiver as she crossed the threshold, unsure whether it was just her imagination or whether the room actually was colder than it had used to be.

"Oh Elphie," murmured Glinda morosely as she perched on the edge of her bed, staring over at the unoccupied one beside it, "why did any of this have to happen?" A fresh wave of sorrow washed over her as her eyes fell upon all of the possessions that her former roommate had left behind. What would happen to them now that Elphaba was gone? It wasn't like she'd left a forwarding address for her to send them to. She supposed that they would be sent back to her home in Munchkinland, or possibly left with Nessa until she had a chance to take them home with her. Unfortunately, the longer she looked at the empty bed for the worse she began to feel, to the point that she had to eventually force herself to look away in order to stop herself from breaking down into floods of tears again.

Glinda moved rather awkwardly as she got herself ready for bed, always trying to position herself so that she never had to look at Elphaba's bed. This did little to soothe her however, for even when the bed was out of her sight she still felt aware of how empty it was, as if it were a black hole that threatened to pull her in. After a few minutes of this feeling she could finally take it no longer and looked back at the bed, a few stray tears rolling down her cheeks again. Crossing over to the small wardrobe that housed Elphaba's small selection of outfits, Glinda began to pull them out haphazardly, bunching them up beneath the empty bed's covers so that it looked like there was someone sleeping beneath them. It wasn't at all like actually having Elphaba there, but at least it made the room seem not quite as empty as before... almost.

She spent most of that night lying awake in her bed, far too anxious about the following day to get anything even vaguely resembling a good night's sleep. There were two main causes for this apprehension, although she couldn't quite decide which one was unsettling her more. The first was the fact that by the morning the news about the new 'Wicked Witch' would presumably have reached Shiz, and thus be common knowledge amongst the students by the end of breakfast (gossip had an uncanny way of spreading faster than one would believe possible). It was bad enough that she'd have to listen to most of Shiz publically criticizing her best friend; what made it worse was that she knew she'd be swamped by people trying to get additional information out of her. Not that she'd tell them anything of course; Glinda had made use of her restlessness to think up several stock-excuses that she could fire back at anyone prying into the matter.

The second thing that was worrying her about the next day was the fact that presumably Madame Morrible (who had informed her before departure that her new position was purely part-time) would be back in town at some point during the day, for Glinda was dreading the inevitable summons she would receive when this happened. She knew it was just paranoia speaking, but she simply couldn't shake the awful feeling that Morrible would somehow know that she'd told everything to Nessa, and quite frankly she wasn't sure that she'd be able to lie convincingly if she asked about it. Only when she'd comprehensively convinced herself that there was absolutely no chance of this happening was she finally able to drift off into a fitful sleep, to be woken only a few short hours later by the alarm she now thoroughly regretted setting going off.

* * *

Nessarose awoke in a state of considerable confusion. She could tell that there was something wrong, however with the haze of sleep still filling her mind she was quite unable to remember what it was for a few minutes. She remained in this dazed state as she manoeuvred herself out of the bed and into her chair, and it was only as she entered the bathroom that the memory of the previous night's encounter with Glinda hit her like a ton of bricks. Gasping involuntarily, Nessa stared wide-eyed into the mirror, scarcely believing that the memories now returning to her were really her own. Elphaba was gone, possibly forever, and to make matters worse was believed to be a vile monstrosity by the rest of Oz. It was no wonder that her mind had tried to block it out, at least for a little while.

"Oh Elphie," she murmured unaware that she was mirroring Glinda's words, "why do you always get yourself into these situations?" She continued to brood in this nature as she worked through her preparations for the day, getting ready slightly faster than she would usually so that she wouldn't be late meeting Glinda (the blonde had concluded that they should meet up before going to breakfast, in the hopes that it would be easier for the two of them to handle whatever awaited them together). Hurrying downstairs, she eventually spotted Glinda waiting in an alcove in the building's main foyer, and greeted her as she crossed the room.

"Are you ready?" asked Glinda as Nessa drew close, sounding almost as nervous as she had the previous night (although thankfully not as upset). Nessa nodded in determination, and together they made their way over to the dining hall and pushed the doors open. An unnatural hush rapidly spread across the room as they entered, some students visibly stopping their conversations mid-word as they noticed that Nessa and Glinda were now in their midst. Any hopes that may have still lingered in the girls' minds that maybe the news wouldn't have reached Shiz yet died instantly, and as she glanced nervously around the room Glinda noticed several newspapers dotted around bearing the headline _'Wicked Witch terrorizes Emerald City'_.

"You can stop staring now," stated Nessa resignedly after several seconds of this awkward silence, "I've already heard what happened." Almost instantly whispered conversations burst into life in several places throughout the room, and although she couldn't hear exactly what was being said, it didn't take much working out. As it turned out however she didn't need to work out what was being said, for only moments after she'd finished her announcement an unfriendly voice spoke up and told her first-hand.

"Of course you already know!" jeered the student, whom Nessa vaguely recognised as being in the same History class as her, "you've probably been planning it with her for months!"

"Yeah!" called out the student beside him, "how do we know you're not just as Wicked as her!" A few more people cried out similar sentiments, although Nessa was relieved to see that it was not as many as she had feared.

"Hey, leave Nessa alone!" interrupted a new voice, and Nessa gave a start as she realised that it was Boq, "She might not be the friendliest person around but she's nothing like the Witch!" Given the events of the previous day (although with everything that had happened since it seemed like much longer ago), Boq was the last person whom she had expected to speak up in her defence, although the way he'd spat out the word 'witch' in description of Elphaba rather eliminated any chance the gesture could have had of being touching. Still, she shot him a grateful look across the room, as around them the conversations returned to normal. A few people were still shooting suspicious glances at her (mainly the friends of the first boy who'd spoken), however most had seemingly returned to whatever they'd been conversing before she entered.

"Thank you Boq," began Nessa slowly as the teen in question finished working his way through the crowd to stand beside them, "that was ve..."

"Yeah sure," interrupted Boq, who instead turned all of his attention onto Glinda, characteristically adoring expression on his face as he gazed at her, "someone had to be brave. You do think it was brave, don't you Glinda?" The blonde raised one eyebrow in surprise and gaped at him, momentarily unsure whether she was actually hearing this.

"Oz, do you ever stop!" exclaimed Glinda in an exasperated tone, wheeling Nessa past the now rather hurt looking Munchkin without another word. They quickly worked their way through the crowd to the long, buffet tables which were laden down with every type of breakfast food imaginable, although unfortunately by this point Nessa had rather lost her appetite.

"He was only ever going out with me because you told him to, wasn't he," she asked darkly as she picked up a plate, although she didn't have any real urge to place any food on it. Glinda, who didn't seem to share her current reluctance to eat and was piling her plate with anything that looked appealing, sighed at this, turning to face her new friend with a regretful look in her eyes.

"I am sorry about that Nessa," she insisted, and from the tone of her voice it did sound to Nessa like she meant it, "he just wouldn't take no for an answer and it was the only thing I could think of..." She trailed off into silence, sighing again as she realised how lame the excuse sounded. "As I said, I'm really sorry."

"Just don't do it again," demanded Nessa firmly, before adding as a quick afterthought, "unless I ask you to of course." Glinda giggled, and after adding a few more items to her breakfast selection navigated the way across the room to an empty table. There were several other vacant tables that would have been easier to get to, however this one had caught Glinda's eye for one very important reason: the previous occupants had left behind a copy of a newspaper bearing the same article that she'd noticed before. She picked this up as she slid into a chair, grabbing a croissant with one hand and idly chewing on it as she began to read the article.

_**WICKED WITCH TERRORIZES EMERALD CITY**_

_Be on your guard citizens of Oz, for there is a great evil at large that threatens to destroy all that we hold dear. What is this evil you ask? The answer is a vile miscreant – a horrific manifestorium of all that is wrong in this world – a murderous, deceitful monstrosity whose very existence is a plague upon Oz: Elphaba Thropp, the Wicked Witch! Last night, during a private meeting between our Wonderful Wizard and a new advisor whom he hopes to present to you soon, the Wicked Witch forced her way into the palace with intent to kill our glorious leader. Thankfully, the guards were able to prevent this heinous act from occurring, however this forced the Witch to vent her monstroificarious urges in another way, namely the mutilation of several poor, innocent monkeys! All of Oz should be on alert in search of this inhumane beast, for we are all in danger so long as she..._

Glinda threw the paper down in disgust, unable to stomach reading any more of the lies printed within it. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Nessa cautiously picked it up and began to scan the article herself, however she didn't even get as far as Glinda had before having to stop. Turning to face the blonde, she was about to voice her irritation at the article, however was taken aback by the rate at which Glinda was consuming the selection of breakfast foods she'd assembled.

"Do you always eat like that!" gasped Nessa as, with eyes widened in surprise, she watched Glinda rapidly work her way through several elegant-looking breakfast pastries. The blonde looked up from her food, quickly swallowing the mouthful of cinnamon twirl she was consuming before responding:

"Pretty much," she admitted, blushing slightly at the disbelieving look on Nessa's face, "all my friends back home hated me for it. They swore I had to be keeping my figure through magic."

"Are you?" asked Nessa curiously, remembering that her companion was indeed studying magic here at Shiz.

"I don't think so," stated Glinda with a laugh, "I'm not doing it consciously in any case." She was about to return to her breakfast when she suddenly noticed that Nessa's plate was completely bare, with no signs of there having been any food on it to begin with. "Nessa, you have to eat something."

"I'm not hungry..." muttered Nessa awkwardly, the memory of her encounter with Boq still weighing heavily on her.

"It's not healthy to go without breakfast," insisted Glinda, passing one of her own croissants across for Nessa to eat.

"I'm still full from last night," protested Nessa, "I had a big meal with Fiyero..." She stopped herself quickly, remembering the Prince's insistence that she shouldn't convey this information, especially to Glinda, however the damage had already been done.

"With Fiyero!" exclaimed Glinda wildly, staring at Nessa with a dumfounded expression on her face. Nessa opened her mouth to explain herself, however before any sound could come out of it she was interrupted by another voice.

"Did someone call me?" asked Fiyero with an amused tone as he slid into one of the table's free seats, shooting a cheeky grin and both of the table's current occupants. Glinda jumped in surprise at his sudden appearance, rapidly turning to interrogate him instead of the girl.

"You went out with Nessarose last night!"

"Just as friends, I assure you," he replied with a chuckle, although Nessa could tell from his expression that he didn't want to linger on the subject for long.

"Have you seen the paper?" she asked in order to change the subject, and he quickly shot her a grateful look.

"Unfortunately, yes," he replied, idly picking up the copy on the table as if to confirm that it was indeed the same as the one he'd consulted earlier, "and let me say now, I don't believe a word of it." He looked around furtively, making sure no-one was listening in on their conversation before continuing in hushed tones. "That's really why I sought you out today Glinda; I was hoping you could tell me what really happened." Glinda, who had been looking rather flustered at having her inquiry into the previous night cut off so suddenly, started in alarm, clearly having not counted on Fiyero trying to get the truth out of her.

"I really don't want to talk about it!" she stated quickly, voice cracking slightly under the pressure. Purposefully not meeting Fiyero's eye, she made a show of turning her attention back to the remains of her breakfast, making it clear that she had no intention of continuing with this topic of conversation. Fiyero cast a confused glance over at Nessa, who shrugged, trying to keep her face even. Glinda had trusted her to keep the truth secret, and if she wasn't going to tell Fiyero about it then Nessa wasn't going to do so either. It seemed foolish to keep him in the dark, although she supposed that Glinda wasn't aware of his feelings for Elphaba like she was.

"Croissant?" asked Nessa to fill the silence, offering Fiyero the same one that Glinda had forced on her a few minutes ago. He took it with thanks, and they concluded breakfast amiably enough, although the blonde didn't say another word throughout the entire time they sat there.

_**Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed this chapter ^^**_


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